RUIDOSO DOWNS, NM—MAY 19, 2015—When a fan looks at the Ruidoso Downs program he or she will, generally, see one set of trainers handling quarter horses and another group of trainers conditioning thoroughbreds. There is even a different set of trainer and jockey standing for thoroughbreds and quarter horses.

Then there is Todd Fincher. He was one of the few exceptions.

“Training both breeds is different in so many ways,” Fincher said. “With quarter horses, standing in the gate is so important. Then once they break, you just want your horse to run straight and fast.

“With thoroughbreds the break isn’t necessarily that important. You teach them to rate, turn and build their stamina; so many more things go into training thoroughbreds.”

But the big money is in quarter horses at Ruidoso Downs. The Ruidoso Futurity and Derby trials set for opening weekend. The Ruidoso Futurity finals are worth $750,000 and Ruidoso Derby finals have an $815,000 purse. Money talks.

“When you race here, you really want to compete in the top races,” Fincher said. “That’s why we’re running both breeds. The quarter horse money is only part of it; you want to win those races because they are so prestigious in the industry.”

Fincher was born in the racing business. His parents were involved in racing, then Fincher took up being a jockey as a young man before he grew and then tried his hand at training horses.

“I’ve been coming here since ’92, and I enjoy racing here more than anywhere else,” Fincher said. “We start working on these babies in the fall, and now we’re going to see how well they run (in the trials) this weekend. We have a pretty good idea about what we’ve got, but you never know when one might fool you.”

Racing runs on a Friday through Monday schedule at Ruidoso Downs with a 1 p.m. first post time. There is always free parking and free general admission.

For complete Ruidoso Downs’ information, go to www.raceruidoso.com, visit the Ruidoso Downs Race Track and Casino Facebook page and follow the Ruidoso Press Box (@RuiPressBox) on Twitter.